Despite finishing two games above .500 in 2012, the Los Alamos Hilltopper football team was shut out of the Class 4A state playoffs.
Los Alamos wasn’t invited to this year’s playoffs, missing out on the postseason for the third time in four seasons.
Only one team from District 2, widely considered the weakest district in the state, was selected for this year’s 4A playoffs. Santa Fe, which won the district race, including topping the Hilltoppers 62-30 in Los Alamos Oct. 19, will be the only District 2 representative in the 4A field.
District 2 has sent the minimum of one team to state every year since 2009. Los Alamos won the district title in 2011 and advanced to the postseason as the No. 12 seed, but was drubbed by Los Lunas in the opening round.
Surprisingly, the Demons (5-5) didn’t receive the No. 12 seed in the bracket, as many expected. Instead, the Demons earned the No. 11 seed, while Roswell (5-5), which finished three spots ahead of Santa Fe in the most recent MaxPreps.com rankings – one of the most important determinants for seeding and selection – was given the No. 12 seed.
Not surprisingly, the top overall seed was given to the Goddard Rockets (9-0), who were ranked first in the state for most of the year. Los Lunas (10-0), which scored 432 points and gave up only 52 in 2012, picked up the No. 2 seed.
Santa Fe will play sixth-seeded and defending 4A champion Aztec (5-4) in the opening round. Aztec upset Piedra Vista for the District 1 title.
Los Alamos (6-4) went 3-1 during the District 2 season, outscoring Bernalillo, Española Valley and Capital 142-6.
The Hilltoppers’ 52-0 victory over Capital Nov. 2 was the final game in the careers of seniors Noah Ferry, Ben Betts, Arnoldo Ortiz, Cory Geyer, John Gibson, Clint Adams, Mitch Carson and Diego Madrid.

John McHale

Seth Drop gives a stiff-arm to a Capital defensive back during the Hilltoppers' final game of the season Nov. 2.